Denver Trial Attorney Blog | Leventhal & Puga P.C.https://www.leventhal-law.com/blog
Denver Trial Attorney BlogWed, 06 Mar 2019 18:49:37 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.10The Terrible Cost of the Cone of Silencehttps://www.leventhal-law.com/blog/terrible-cost-the-cone-of-silence/
Thu, 28 Feb 2019 08:07:59 +0000https://www.leventhal-law.com/blog/?p=143Nobody wants to think about medical mistakes, but they happen all the time. What is even more frustrating is hospitals and doctors do all they can to hide the mistakes and avoid taking responsibility for failures in their systems. This so-called cone of silence occurs when information is kept confidential among a select few. In […]]]>

Nobody wants to think about medical mistakes, but they happen all the time. What is even more frustrating is hospitals and doctors do all they can to hide the mistakes and avoid taking responsibility for failures in their systems.

This so-called cone of silence occurs when information is kept confidential among a select few. In the medical field, doctors may feel they need to protect other doctors, and hospitals may feel they need to protect their bottom line. But covering up medical malpractice is never acceptable. Here’s why.

The Cone of Silence Lets More People Get Hurt

Multiple sclerosis is a disease in which the immune system attacks its own nerves—specifically, the fatty coating called “myelin” that protects nerve fibers and helps conduct messages from the brain to the body. It is degenerative; can cause muscle stiffness, atrophy, and paralysis; there is no cure.

It is also a highly profitable disease, if you’re a doctor with absolutely no conscience. A Summit County neurologist diagnosed dozens and dozens of patients with MS when they did not have the disease. For years, they endured excruciating treatments, multiple MRI and EEG tests, and mental anguish. It was only when the doctor gave up his Colorado medical license in a “plea bargain” with the Colorado Medical Board over another complaint and sold his practice that the patients learned they were not alone. The system allowed him to go on his way, with no patient the wiser.

“It was a lucrative operation: Since MS is incurable but requires regular monitoring during treatment, a large portfolio of patients means a steady stream of imaging and treatment revenue.” (Vail Daily News) Jim Puga and Alex Wilschke of Leventhal & Puga, P.C., represented multiple plaintiffs in this matter.

The doctor is still practicing medicine in another state.

Filing a Claim Can Improve Public Health

When victims and their families pursue a medical malpractice claim against a hospital, they may be getting compensation as well as a feeling of personal justice. Beyond that, however, they are often improving public health by bringing medical errors in hospital systems to light.

In one case Leventhal & Puga, P.C., handled, a surgical tech at Rose Medical Center infected at least 18 patients with hepatitis C. In violation of hospital policy (and state and federal laws), anesthesiologists left certain drugs (namely fentanyl) in unlocked operating rooms prior to surgery, where this surgical tech snuck in, injected herself with the drug, and replaced the solution with saline, leaving contaminated needles to be injected into patients.

The awful thing is—and something we pointed out in our lawsuit—that Hospital Corporation of America, which owned Rose Medical Center, acquired a healthcare company with a prior lawsuit in 1991 over the exact same problem: a scrub tech who swapped out patients’ fentanyl for his own use. He also had hepatitis C, and 48 patients later settled with the hospital for an undisclosed amount. Had Hospital Corporation paid attention to the circumstances of this earlier case, and communicated the dangers through its enforcement of policies, these patients wouldn’t have been infected with a bloodborne virus and been left to suffer lifelong complications.

Also, Leventhal & Puga, P.C., is currently representing clients who had surgery at Porter Adventist Hospital in Denver, after it was found out the water used for sterilizing surgical instruments was contaminated with bloodborne pathogens—HIV and hepatitis B and C among them. We are fighting to demonstrate this systemic failure caused multiple viral and bacterial infections contracted by surgical patients.

Who was responsible to testing the water quality? How can hospitals ensure their tools are sterilized in the future? These are questions we’ll force them to answer.

How Leventhal & Puga, P.C., Holds Hospitals Accountable

Hospitals may try to hide malpractice, but the truth comes to light when patients have tough, experienced trial attorneys on their side. Working with a legal team is essential in medical malpractice cases, where the red tape and scientific complexities are virtually impossible for you to manage alone. Lawyers often act as investigators, pushing for the truth and proving hospitals and practitioners were responsible for actions they deny.

In an ideal world, physicians and hospitals would remove the cone of silence, admit their mistakes, and make up for them. Research demonstrates this would result in a better outcome for both parties. But for now, many medical centers continue to skirt responsibility for their errors.

When they do, you need a Denver hospital negligence lawyer willing to do the research to get the compensation for you, and improve how our healthcare system functions overall. If you’d like to speak with Leventhal & Puga, P.C., about a potential medical malpractice case, give us a call at (303) 759-9945. We handle cases across the United States, and your initial consultation is free. Should we pursue your claim, you will owe us no fees until we get justice for you.

]]>The Unacceptable Cost of Poor Maternal Care in the U.S.https://www.leventhal-law.com/blog/unacceptable-cost-poor-maternal-care/
Wed, 13 Feb 2019 08:07:20 +0000https://www.leventhal-law.com/blog/?p=134Think the United States is the leader in providing healthcare and state-of-the-art treatment to patients—especially for new babies and mothers? Think again. The U.S. actually has the highest maternal mortality rate of all first-world countries. An estimated 700-900 women died in 2016 due to pregnancy-related causes. Additionally, maternal deaths in the United States increased between […]]]>

Think the United States is the leader in providing healthcare and state-of-the-art treatment to patients—especially for new babies and mothers? Think again. The U.S. actually has the highest maternal mortality rate of all first-world countries. An estimated 700-900 women died in 2016 due to pregnancy-related causes. Additionally, maternal deaths in the United States increased between 2000 and 2014, and 60% of these maternal deaths were considered preventable.

There is no excuse for these deaths in a first-world country with access to the latest technology and childbirth experts. The medical community in the United States needs to address why and how this is happening, and individual doctors and nurses who contribute to the problem must be held responsible for the loss of mothers’ lives.

What Can Go Wrong During Pregnancy?

While some maternal deaths may result from unpredictable or uncontrollable circumstances, most are the direct result of poor hospital care, or poor communication with the mothers on the part of medical staff.

Life-threatening complications before and during childbirth include placenta previa (when the placenta covers the cervix), placental abruption (when the placenta detaches from uterus early), uterine rupture, complications caused by polyps or cervical cancer, and failure to address preexisting factors such as preeclampsia or blood-clotting issues. After delivery, mothers may suffer an embolism (a blood clot that blocks an artery), bleeding (which can happen up to two weeks after), postpartum infection, or even heart failure. Any of these can be fatal if not caught in time.

Why Is Maternal Care So Poor in the United States?

There are many causes for the poor maternal care in the United States. Here are just a few:

The failure of healthcare providers to warn women about dangerous post-birth conditions.

The failure of doctors and nurses to recognize worrisome symptoms and treat obstetric emergencies in time.

New mothers are older than previous generations, and have more complex histories that must be taken into consideration.

The United States healthcare system may make it hard for women to get the comprehensive care they need, especially if they don’t have high-quality health insurance.

New mothers are monitored less than their new baby and, unless the pregnancy was high-risk, are expected to be fine with no complications. They are usually discharged as soon as possible.

When U.S. hospitals discharge women after giving birth, they routinely receive information on how to breastfeed and what to do if their newborn is sick, but they do not typically receive information on how to tell if they need medical attention themselves.

This focus on newborn health and not mother health does a disservice to both baby and mother, and results in many unnecessary deaths in otherwise healthy women.

How Do Doctors Contribute to Maternal Death in the U.S.?

There are many ways in which one decision by a doctor can lead to a negative outcome for a new mom in the hospital. For example, preeclampsia is a condition that leads to high blood pressure. Many people know it is a risk during pregnancy, but it can also develop in the days after childbirth. For one new mom named Lauren Bloomstein, her medical team’s failure to consistently monitor her high blood pressure and to treat her warning signs resulted in brain damage and eventually death.

An analysis by the CDC Foundation of maternal mortality data from four states identified more than 20 critical factors that contributed to pregnancy-related deaths. The ones involving providers include:

lack of standardized policies,

inadequate clinical skills,

failure to consult specialists, and

poor coordination of care.

The average maternal death had 3.7 critical factors, meaning it is often a combination of issues that causes a new mother’s death.

The key elements of medical malpractice are that the healthcare provider violated the standard of care, that the standard of care violation was a cause of some damages, injuries, or losses. So, a healthcare provider who fails to monitor a patient for symptoms, fails to treat warning signs of a dangerous condition, or fails to give mothers essential information on how to maintain their health may be negligent. If these failures were a cause of injuries, damages, and/or losses, there may be a medical malpractice claim.

If you were injured after childbirth, or you believe your loved one was injured or died due to medical malpractice during or after delivery, please give the experienced Denver birth injury attorneys at Leventhal & Puga, P.C., a call at (303) 759-9945. We handle serious injury cases nationwide, and we offer a no-cost initial consultation to review your medical records.

]]>Leventhal & Puga, P.C., Partners with The Gathering Placehttps://www.leventhal-law.com/blog/leventhal-puga-partners-with-the-gathering-place/
Thu, 17 Jan 2019 08:07:13 +0000https://www.leventhal-law.com/blog/?p=126The partners, associates, and staff at Leventhal & Puga, P.C., chose to make The Gathering Place our partner in our yuletide celebration of giving for 2018. We want to take this opportunity to say thank you to The Gathering Place for allowing us to be a part of their community and for taking the time […]]]>

The partners, associates, and staff at Leventhal & Puga, P.C., chose to make The Gathering Place our partner in our yuletide celebration of giving for 2018. We want to take this opportunity to say thank you to The Gathering Place for allowing us to be a part of their community and for taking the time to give us a tour of their amazing facility where they provide shelter, a mailing address, daycare, food, clothing, toiletries, medical and dental check-ups, access to governmental resources/programs, and an arts center where they make and sell amazing individual works of art.

The Gathering Place was founded in 1986, and is the only daytime drop-in center in metropolitan Denver that serves women and children who are experiencing poverty and homelessness. They believe deeply in the power of their community and continually work to make it stronger. They are not just a service organization; they are committed advocates for their members and promote social justice for every woman, child, and transgender individual in their community.

Dropping off donation during out tour: Attorney Nick Temming, Law Clerk James Brown and his son Semaj, Attorney Hollynd Hoskins, and The Gathering Place volunteer Barbara Harrison.

We here at Leventhal & Puga, P.C., found their mission to be a noble pillar for the underserved, and we are proud to contribute our support to their efforts. They are a community of safety and hope where positive relationships, choice, and essential resources transform lives. We were able to donate a wide variety of much-needed items such as food, warm clothing, personal hygiene products, diapers, and financial support. This and more helped to provide a brighter holiday for Denver families in need.

Semaj Brown Wheeling in our donations with Barbara Harrison.

The Gathering Place’s information

The Gathering Place is located at 1535 High Street in Denver, just north of Colfax Avenue on High Street.
Call (303) 321-4198 or visit their website to learn more!

]]>The Unexpected Costs of Spinal Traumahttps://www.leventhal-law.com/blog/unexpected-costs-spinal-trauma/
Fri, 14 Dec 2018 08:07:14 +0000https://www.leventhal-law.com/blog/?p=119A spinal cord injury can change your life—and rarely for the better. In fact, the ripple effect of trauma to the spinal cord is usually so severe that a patient will be impacted in ways they never expected. A spinal cord injury (SCI) will affect your overall health and well-being, both short term and long […]]]>

A spinal cord injury can change your life—and rarely for the better. In fact, the ripple effect of trauma to the spinal cord is usually so severe that a patient will be impacted in ways they never expected.

A spinal cord injury (SCI) will affect your overall health and well-being, both short term and long term, your lifestyle and career, and your family finances. If you or a loved one has been affected by a spinal cord injury, it is important to have all of the facts. And when another person’s actions caused your spinal injury, it is important to file a claim for compensation.

Not only do you need it, but this will ensure the same carelessness does not affect someone else. For assistance filing a claim, please contact the top Denver personal injury lawyers at Leventhal & Puga, P.C. We offer a no-cost initial consultation to review your case. If we can help you, we will do so at no upfront cost. Our clients come first.

Common Causes of Spinal Injury

While there are many causes of spinal cord injury, most traumatic injuries occur when the spine or neck is bent or compressed. Some causes include:

Among both genders, car wrecks, falls, and gunshots are the three leading causes of SCI, in that order. Among males, diving injuries ranked fourth, followed by motorcycle crashes. Among females, medical/surgical complications ranked fourth, followed by diving injuries (American Association of Neurological Surgeons).

The Symptoms of an SCI

You may notice a spinal injury immediately due to paralysis below the level of “insult” to the cord, but not all SCIs will lead to complete paralysis. Other common symptoms include (Hopkins Medicine):

Muscle weakness in the trunk, arms, or legs

Muscle spasticity

Breathing problems

Problems with heart rate and blood pressure

Digestive problems

Loss of bowel and bladder function

Sexual dysfunction

If an injury is forceful enough to fracture the spine, it is likely that you will also suffer significant damage to the chest and abdomen. Many associated injuries can be extremely serious. Respiratory diseases like pneumonia, heart disease, and infections are all associated with spinal cord injuries.

Lifestyle Changes after an SCI

Lifestyle changes after a spinal cord will vary greatly depending on the severity of the injury and the parts of the body affected. Most notably, an SCI may affect how you eat, sleep, talk, travel, and work.

Physical and psychological therapy may become a routine part of life after a spinal injury. Physical therapy helps the majority of patients progress and overcome some mobility deficits, while psychological therapy helps patients cope with the depression and anxiety caused by an SCI. Those living with spinal cord injuries must also learn to advocate for themselves in situations that may have felt instinctive before the injury. Employment, housing, and education may all become challenging—but not impossible—obstacles.

The Costs of an SCI

The traumatic nature of spinal cord injuries, combined with chronic symptoms and ongoing therapy requirements, can make an SCI extremely costly. Medical expenses for immediate care and rehabilitation often exceed a million dollars in the first year of treatment alone.

Common sources of this high cost include spinal surgery, trauma care, multiple varieties of rehabilitative care, in-home aids, equipment such as a wheelchair, home modifications, and medication such as painkillers and antibiotics. In addition to the direct cost of medical care, patients and their families also pay for airfare, hotel rooms, and parking, all while losing wages and earning potential.

Who Is Liable for SCI Bills?

Lifestyle changes combined with the cost of a spinal cord injury can be overwhelming. Many patients are left worrying not only about adjusting to their new way of life, but how they are going to pay the mounting bills. While medical insurance may cover some of the necessary care, it does not cover everything.

If you or a loved one has suffered a spinal cord injury due to the negligence of another person or company, they may be responsible for these costs. For example, if a child is born with a spinal cord injury due to medical negligence, the staff and the hospital may be held liable for damages. If a local pool has inaccurate or inadequate signage regarding depth and a loved one is injured diving, the pool owner may be responsible for the spinal cord injury.

Our founding partners, Jim Leventhal, recently achieved a long-fought verdict for one of his clients, a woman whose misdiagnosed cerebral aneurysm led to brain damage and almost complete paralysis. She received $8.3 million from a Kentucky jury, and will now be able to set up her own residence, pay for her care, and provide for her son. (Our trial lawyers handle claims across the United States, not just in Denver.)

Our team can help you determine whether or not another party may be liable for your injury, and what kind of damages you can expect to receive. If you or a loved one has recently suffered an SCI and would like to speak with a skilled medical malpractice lawyer, contact Leventhal & Puga, P.C. at (303) 759-9945 for a no-cost evaluation.

]]>“Pit to Distress” – Medical Malpractice in Its Purest Formhttps://www.leventhal-law.com/blog/pit-to-distress-is-medical-malpractice/
Wed, 14 Nov 2018 00:34:02 +0000https://www.leventhal-law.com/blog/?p=113If you are an expecting parent or ever plan to be, you should know the term “pit to distress.” This is an oblique order doctors give to increase the levels of a synthetic hormone, Pitocin, to a mother during childbirth in order to speed up the labor and delivery process. At best, doctors do this […]]]>

If you are an expecting parent or ever plan to be, you should know the term “pit to distress.” This is an oblique order doctors give to increase the levels of a synthetic hormone, Pitocin, to a mother during childbirth in order to speed up the labor and delivery process.

At best, doctors do this because they believe it to be standard procedure that speeds up a painful childbirth.

At worst, doctors crank up the Pitocin so they can go home early and turn over the patient’s bed more quickly, creating more profit. Never mind the fact that babies and mothers can be seriously hurt by the practice.

What Is a Pitocin Induction?

Pitocin is a synthetic version of oxytocin, a hormone naturally produced by the body to induce contractions, as well as to contribute to social bonding and sexual reproduction.

An induction with Pitocin is administered by a doctor, nurse, or midwife through an IV in the mother’s arm, according to Healthline. The dose is gradually raised until the mother is having regular contractions every two to three minutes. From that point forward, the doctor may choose to continue administering Pitocin through delivery, lower the dose, or stop administering it altogether.

Proper Uses of Pitocin in Labor and Delivery

While doctors and nurses often escalate the use of Pitocin when it is not medically necessary, there is a proper time and a place for this drug. When labor becomes prolonged and the mother is getting fatigued, Pitocin can increase the rate of contractions, moving childbirth along more quickly. Recent studies have shown that inducing labor in this way may reduce the need for more dangerous cesarean section deliveries, allowing patients to give birth vaginally.

The bottom line is that inductions are medically necessary in cases where the risk of the baby staying in utero exceeds the risk of induction. This is a judgment call that medical providers are expected to weigh thoroughly when deciding whether or not to use Pitocin. Examples of cases where Pitocin injections are necessary include conditions like polyhydramnios (too much amniotic fluid), preeclampsia (dangerously high blood pressure in the mother), and fetal growth restrictions (when the baby cannot develop properly in the womb).

Risks of a Pitocin Induction

Risks of Pitocin induction include:

Overstimulation of the fetus, because he or she cannot rest between contractions

Rupture of the uterus, particularly if the mother has a previous C-section scar

Fetal distress, often caused by low oxygen, which can lead to cerebral palsy

Drop in fetal heart rate or fetal death

Pitocin induction carries serious risks, which is why doctors should only call for Pitocin when medically necessary. According to a Childbirth Connection’s national Listening to Mothers survey, 41% of women who gave birth in hospitals reported that their care provider tried to induce their labor, with the most common method being Pitocin.

How Doctors Violate Patient Safety with “Pit to Distress”

Almost half of all mothers in the U.S. are induced nowadays, most of the time with Pitocin. This number may not be frightening on its own; however, 70% of all childbearing women are healthy and their full-term pregnancies are normal. This indicates that Pitocin should only be used 30% of the time or less.

While induction is sometimes medically necessary, the numbers reinforce the idea that doctors are using Pitocin to push labor along when they should be using it as a back-up plan or an exception to a normal birth plan. In fact, the use of Pitocin in labor is the leading cause of malpractice claims. Pitocin is so dangerous and so overly used that an assistant vice president of a hospital told the Washington Post, “Pitocin is used like candy in the OB world, and that’s one of the reasons for medical and legal risk…in many hospitals it is common to ‘pit to distress.’” (Wall Street Journal).

Even when administering Pitocin is the correct course of action for a patient in labor, doctors can still cause harm by administering it too aggressively. After a patient has been given Pitocin, it can take up to 40 minutes for the body to respond. In addition, different women respond to the drug differently. However, doctors still regularly order nurses to increase Pitocin dosage every 20 minutes, either because they don’t know this fact, they haven’t had a negative outcome in the past, or they simply don’t want to wait the full 20 minutes. Too much Pitocin can lead to hyperstimulation of the fetus, one of the risks listed above (Nursing Center).

And that is exactly what some doctors want.

“Pit to distress” means, “Up the Pitocin drip until the baby goes into fetal distress.” That this practice is a reality is borne out by the testimony of neonatal nurses. Once the Pitocin is increased, contractions will come more powerfully. Unless born quickly, the baby won’t have time to recover between contractions. At the first sign of fetal distress, the doctor becomes justified in swooping in to perform an “emergency” C-section. It’s creating the very danger that the doctor will then attempt to bypass—and it is obstetrical malpractice in its purest form.

Work with an Experienced Denver Medical Malpractice Attorney

Impatience, ignorance, or inaccuracy on the part of a physician should never be the reason for injuries to you or your baby during childbirth. Using Pitocin until a baby goes into fetal distress is never acceptable, and if your baby does suffer injury, the doctor can certainly be held liable in court. However, proving this is more difficult than you may think. Doctors are rarely foolish enough to issue an official order for “pit to distress,” instead ordering the nurses to perform the action with no written trail.

However, Leventhal & Puga, P.C., has a team of the top medical malpractice attorneys in the nation, the medical knowledge, the trial experience, and the resources to fully investigate a claim of Pitocin abuse. If you suspect that your child suffered injuries due to a doctor’s use of the “pit to distress” method, call our Denver labor medication injury lawyers at (303) 759-9945 to discuss your case at no cost. We have successfully handled these lawsuits across the United States, and if we take your case, you owe us no attorney fees until we get an outcome in your favor.

]]>If My Child Has Cerebral Palsy, Will There Be Other Conditions?https://www.leventhal-law.com/blog/if-child-has-cerebral-palsy-be-other-conditions/
Thu, 25 Oct 2018 21:27:31 +0000https://www.leventhal-law.com/blog/?p=105Cerebral palsy is the most common motor disability in childhood. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that one in 345 children have cerebral palsy. But cerebral palsy is rarely all that a family will have to deal with after a diagnosis. When a child has another medical condition in addition to cerebral […]]]>

Cerebral palsy is the most common motor disability in childhood. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that one in 345 children have cerebral palsy. But cerebral palsy is rarely all that a family will have to deal with after a diagnosis. When a child has another medical condition in addition to cerebral palsy, it is called a “co-occurring,” “associated,” or “coexisting” condition.

Nearly half of all children with cerebral palsy will have some type of co-occurring condition. The most common co-occurring condition, overall, is epilepsy, which is hyper-activity between brain cells causing recurring, unprovoked seizures. (CDC)

A study by the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute did find that for children who have cerebral palsy and white matter injury, “these particular seizures occur infrequently, and respond well to medicine. …There is also a good chance children will outgrow their seizures as they move into their teens.” This is reassuring news for parents, and we applaud further study into this field. However, Leventhal & Puga, P.C., must point out that “white matter injury” in the brain is largely associated with premature birth and insufficient oxygen to the baby. Our attorneys sit on the board of the American Association of Justice’s Birth Trauma Litigation Group and handle many lawsuits involving cerebral palsy, and we know that any medical negligence during birth—bad monitoring, miscommunication, failing to take quick action—can allow these conditions that ultimately lead to cerebral palsy.

We should never forget that epileptic seizures can cause injuries, brain damage, and sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP), a poorly understood cause of death that occurs in about 1 in 1,000 people every year. If a doctor’s poor planning or inadequate medical care leads to cerebral palsy in a child, we strongly believe that doctor should pay for the child’s future care.

What Conditions Can Co-Occur with Cerebral Palsy?

Epilepsy or a seizure disorder

Intellectual disabilities

Learning disabilities

Delayed growth

Spinal deformities

Infections and illnesses

Speech disorders

Dental problems

Drooling

Impaired vision

Impaired hearing

Abnormal sensations

Bladder problems

Muscle tension and joint deformity

Malnutrition

Inactivity

It’s probably safe to say that a co-occurring condition is more likely than not, if your child was diagnosed with cerebral palsy.

A Look at the Numbers: 3 Studies on Co-Occurring Conditions

Researchers from the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network found that 60% of children with CP had another developmental disability in addition to cerebral palsy. Out of a sample population of 8-year-olds with cerebral palsy from Alabama, Georgia, Wisconsin, and Missouri:

About 40% had an intellectual disability,

About 35% had epilepsy,

About 15% had vision impairment,

About 25% had both an intellectual disability and epilepsy.

Children with limited or no walking ability were more likely to have epilepsy: 67%. Autism was rarer overall (6.9%) but more common in non-spastic or hypotonic cerebral palsy (18.4%). The rate of autism spectrum disorder among children with cerebral palsy was substantially higher than among children without cerebral palsy—about 7% vs. 1%!

The researchers concluded, “The higher frequency of autism spectrum disorder in non-spastic than in spastic subtypes of CP calls for closer examination.” Such an examination has yet to be published.

Another collaboration by the Surveillance for Cerebral Palsy in Europe noted the following numbers for co-occurring conditions alongside cerebral palsy:

About 31% of children had a severe intellectual disability.

About 11% of children had a severe visual disability.

About 21% of children had epilepsy.

This study noted that although cerebral palsy is a “nonprogressive” condition (it will not get worse over time), as the child grows and develops, the way that cerebral palsy manifests may indeed change and seem to worsen, and needs to be treated accordingly.

Lastly, a study published in China examined children with cerebral palsy who were treated at a rehabilitation center from January 2007 to June 2009. Of those children:

What Causes Co-Occurring Conditions?

Many co-occurring conditions are actually sequalae—conditions that are caused by the previous disease or injury, usually the cerebral palsy itself.

For example, physical development in a child is often stimulated by movement. That’s why therapy for a weak limb involves vigorous exercises to strengthen and enlarge the muscles. With cerebral palsy, children have limited motor abilities, and those affected parts of their bodies simply cannot grow the same as a child without CP—therefore, delayed growth is a co-occurring condition.

Mental impairment is more common in spastic quadriplegia cases, because the cerebral palsy injury to the brain is more widespread, affecting the child more severely.

It could also be that the original damage to the brain (the “insult”) is to blame for the associated condition. Hearing loss in particular is caused by infant jaundice, or a lack of oxygen to the developing brain. A lack of oxygen to the brain also causes damage to the motor areas of the brain itself…which creates cerebral palsy.

Quality of Life for Cerebral Palsy and Co-Occurring Conditions

Co-occurring conditions definitely make a tough road even tougher.

Cerebral palsy can be difficult to bear, but children with cerebral palsy often lead rich, fulfilling lives and bring their parents and communities joy. Though they spend time in hospitals, therapy, and learning how compensate for any disabilities, children with cerebral palsy aren’t substantively different from any other child. You can read success stories celebrating cerebral palsy on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website.

If you have questions about how or why your child acquired CP, or think that medical mistakes may have led to your child’s CP, talk to us at Leventhal & Puga, P.C. Our nationally-acclaimed lawyers have taken many cerebral palsy cases to trial to get justice for parents and their children. However, there are strict time limits for filing a birth injury claim, so we encourage you to speak to us as soon as possible. Call our Denver office at (303) 759-9945 to set up a no-cost initial consultation. We handle cases across the country, and have the resources and experience to defeat the largest hospital corporations if necessary to take care of our clients and their children.

Additional Information

]]>How Does a Medical Device Wind Up in Your Body?https://www.leventhal-law.com/blog/how-a-medical-device-winds-up-in-body/
Tue, 18 Sep 2018 23:35:12 +0000https://www.leventhal-law.com/blog/?p=91A shocking documentary called The Bleeding Edge was released in July of 2018. This “searing” exposé looked at select cases of patients who were seriously injured by medical devices, and their attempts to find answers for why this had been allowed to happen to them. Recently, The Danger Within Us – a book by a […]]]>

A shocking documentary called The Bleeding Edge was released in July of 2018. This “searing” exposé looked at select cases of patients who were seriously injured by medical devices, and their attempts to find answers for why this had been allowed to happen to them. Recently, The Danger Within Us – a book by a former physician turned investigative journalist – covered the same thing: an estimated $156 billion medical device industry gone wild.

Let’s begin with the basics. What is a medical device?

A medical device is any article, instrument, apparatus, or machine that prevents, diagnoses, or treats an illness. Pacemakers, defibrillators, syringes, ventilators, hernia mesh, catheters, stents, breast implants, MRI machines, IVC filters, hip implants, dialysis machines, and even surgical gloves are just a few examples of such devices. Medical devices are also used to detect, measure, restore, correct, or modify the structure or function of the body for a health purpose. (SelectUSA.gov)

It may surprise you to learn that many medical devices on the market today underwent little to no clinical testing before being used on or implanted in a patient. It is no wonder they can end up causing unforeseen side effects, seriously injuring their hosts.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is responsible for regulating the device industry, but many critics believe that the federal agency has loopholes in place that allow untested products to make it into doctors’ hands – and people’s bodies.

A Short History of Medical Devices

The 1950s and ‘60s saw a boom in technology in the Western world, including medical technology. Many devices in the form they are used today were originated at this time, including metal-on-metal hip implants (1953) and surgical (hernia) mesh (1955). Nominally, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was in charge of overseeing medical devices in America. However, it wasn’t until the Medical Device Amendment of 1976 to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act that the FDA was allowed to impose production, distribution, and sales rules on device manufacturers.

Every device already on the market prior to 1976 was “grandfathered in,” requiring none of the safety testing that devices would have to undergo moving forward.

The Safe Medical Devices Act of 1990 further expanded the FDA’s authority to regulate medical devices. Since 1991, hospitals have been required to report serious injury, death, or other “adverse experiences” related to medical devices to both the device manufacturer and the FDA. “Adverse experiences” include concussions, fractures, burns, paralysis, and loss of sight, hearing, or smell.

How Are Medical Devices Approved Today?

When a manufacturer comes up with a new medical device, it must be approved by the FDA before it can be put on the market and sold to the public. Here are the major steps:

The device must be classified. There are three categories of device: class I (low to moderate risk to a patient), class II (moderate to high risk), and class III (high risk). An implantable device like a pacemaker or hip implant, which “presents a potential, unreasonable risk of illness or injury” to a patient, would fall into class III. The manufacturer of the new device is allowed to choose the device classification, though the FDA can reject the choice if the FDA feels the device is higher risk.

The device must go through premarket submission with the FDA. Depending on the classification, the new device will generally have to apply for approval through the 510(k) Premarket Notification process, the De Novo process, or the Premarket Approval Application.

Premarket Approval (PMA): The most stringent set of controls for a device, premarket approval is a “scientific, regulatory documentation to FDA to demonstrate the safety and effectiveness of the class III device.” PMA requires valid clinical tests performed on the use of the device; non-clinical laboratory tests covering microbiology, toxicology, immunology, biocompatibility, stress, wear, shelf life, etc.; and sound scientific reasoning and statistical analyses backing up the data. Ideally, all class III devices on the market will have gone through PMA, but that is not the case.

510(k) Premarket Notification (PMN): Usually reserved for class I or class II devices, premarket notification is for devices that are “substantially equivalent” to another predicate device already on the market, even if the predicate device was pulled for defects. There is no clinical testing requirement. One example of a device that made it to the market through PMN is the DePuy Pinnacle metal-on-metal hip implant system, which had to be discontinued due to high rates of failure (and surgical revision) in patients. It should also be noted that the FDA states, “The burden is on the 510(k) holder to decide whether or not a modification could significantly affect safety or effectiveness of the device.” In essence, the device manufacturer gets to tell the FDA what is safe…not the other way around. (It should also be noted that the Institute of Medicine recommended eliminating the PMN approval process in 2011.)

Evaluation of Automatic Class III Designation (De Novo): When there is no predicate device, or a new device receives a high-level not-substantially-equivalent (NSE) determination from the FDA, manufacturers can petition to have the device evaluated and placed into class I or class II and be subjected to the 510(k) pathway instead of PMA.

Once approved by the FDA, a device can be marketed to the public and offered for sale. Certain devices are granted conditional approval and postmarket studies must still be conducted…as those devices are used on live patients, who have no idea that they are still under review.

Adverse events must be reported. Pursuant to the Safe Medical Devices Act, any adverse events must be reported to the FDA and device manufacturer by the healthcare provider overseeing the use of the device. But that’s not always what happens.

Physicians are reluctant to report adverse medical device events (AMDEs), a British Medical Journal study shows. They perceive such reporting as “unnecessary, not possible or futile” based on institutional factors and a lack of device industry responsiveness. Consumers are able to report their own adverse events in the FDA’s MAUDE database, but the system is too confusing for the average patient. According to an Institute of Medicine publication, “Voluntary reports from healthcare professionals and consumers also account for a small percentage of reports (about 3 percent each year).”

In addition, some physicians have good reason to play up the benefits of medical devices and downplay the side effects: this ProPublica project tracks the amount of money that has been paid by device manufacturers to doctors. Kickbacks and promotion lead to more doctors recommending medical device surgery for patients who don’t need it – and quite possibly, devices that can be deadly.

How a Medical Device Can Go Wrong

A baby boy is delivered using a vacuum extractor. He suffers bleeding under his scalp at birth, and is rushed to the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit, but it is too late. Reviewing the case, experts find that the hemorrhage was caused by a defective gauge in the vacuum extractor, which read the level of suction in the “safe” zone even though it was dangerous, and caused the fatal hemorrhage.

A 9-year-old boy has been hospitalized for a severe asthma attack. He requires oxygen therapy and aerosolized treatments, as well as antibiotics. A nurse attaches the tubing for his daily intravenous antibiotic dose, but the end fitting for the tube is identical to the boy’s oxygen tube – and the nurse, distracted by something the boy says, connects the wrong one, sending air into his intravenous line – a fatal embolism. Though the proximate cause of the child’s death was the nurse’s error, the tubing design contributed to this mistake because it allowed the incorrect connection, and lacked clear labeling.

Both of these examples are hypothetical “vignettes” from Safe Medical Devices for Children, a committee review on postmarket surveillance of pediatric medical devices published by the Institute of Medicine. They highlight a larger problem: new devices are pouring out faster than we can keep track of them – whether they harm patients or not. An estimated 6.7 million people have medical devices implanted in their bodies every year, according to Jeanne Lenzer, author of The Danger Within Us.

As technology expands, medical device manufacturers are constantly changing their devices – both the design as well as the manufacturing process. Small changes can become big problems, as seen with the DePuy ASR XL hip implant system. A plastic liner was removed and a larger “socket” created to increase the stability of the hip – but this led to grinding between the two metal surfaces, releasing metallic particles into patients’ blood and tissue, causing tissue death and heavy metal poisoning.

What Can You Do After a Medical Device Injures You?

It’s a brave new world out there, in our hospitals as well as our homes. If you were injured by an adverse reaction caused by a medical device, it may be difficult to recover just compensation. The bureaucratic red tape surrounding device regulation is no accident, and knowing the science and data behind why a device failed is hugely complex, often at a molecular level.

However, an experienced medical product liability attorney at Leventhal & Puga, P.C., would know what to do. Our team of nationally acclaimed trial lawyers has handled litigation involving defective devices across the United States, with successful results for our clients.

If you call us with your situation, we’ll examine your records and let you know if you have a viable case against a device manufacturer or hospital for compensation. Please contact our Denver office online or call (877) 433-3906 for a confidential, no-cost consultation.

]]>Kentucky Woman Wins $8.2 Million Verdicthttps://www.leventhal-law.com/blog/kentucky-woman-wins-8m-verdict/
Fri, 07 Sep 2018 19:08:34 +0000https://www.leventhal-law.com/blog/?p=78A 35-year-old Kentucky mother went to St. Elizabeth Hospital in Edgewood with the worst headache of her life. The emergency room doctor ordered a CT exam to evaluate her headache. The CT showed evidence of a brain bleed, but the scan was misread by the radiologist. Another test was required, but instead the ER doctor […]]]>

A 35-year-old Kentucky mother went to St. Elizabeth Hospital in Edgewood with the worst headache of her life. The emergency room doctor ordered a CT exam to evaluate her headache. The CT showed evidence of a brain bleed, but the scan was misread by the radiologist. Another test was required, but instead the ER doctor told her it was just a migraine, and sent her on her way. Twelve days later, a blood vessel burst in her brain, and the woman was paralyzed from the neck down, unable to speak. An undetected brain aneurysm was to blame.

The woman filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against the ER physician and radiologist for their failure to diagnose the aneurysm that severely altered her life. After seven years of litigation, a team of attorneys, including lead counsel Jim Leventhal of Leventhal & Puga, P.C., obtained a jury verdict for the woman of $8.3 million. Since her injury, the woman has had to reside in a nursing home, unable to care for herself. She’s also missed out on a significant amount of her 12-year-old son’s life, being unable to hug him or attend his little league baseball games.

When we seek medical care, we trust that the physician who treats us will take the time necessary to correctly diagnose our ailment. When a doctor makes an incorrect diagnosis, or fails to diagnose an illness or injury that a competent doctor would have discovered, that is grounds for a medical malpractice suit. But, as you can see from the case above, it’s not as simple as demanding compensation from the guilty physician. Doctors carry malpractice insurance, which means that they’ll have lawyers fighting to deny you the settlement or verdict you deserve. In order to get true justice, you should enlist the representation of an experienced medical malpractice attorney who will hold the negligent doctor, hospital, or clinic responsible for your losses.

While no amount of money can bring a person’s health back, a significant monetary award can make a big difference in an injury victim’s life, and the lives of family members.

If you have questions about medical care you received, and would like to know more about grounds for a medical malpractice lawsuit, please contact the Denver office of Leventhal & Puga, P.C., at (877) 433-3906 for a no-cost initial consultation.

Read more about this case:

]]>Uninsured Motorist Coverage May Be Your Best Friend in a Crashhttps://www.leventhal-law.com/blog/uninsured-motorist-may-be-your-best-friend-in-crash/
Sun, 12 Aug 2018 22:57:14 +0000https://www.leventhal-law.com/blog/?p=73Approximately 12.6% of United States drivers are driving their vehicles without the coverage of an auto insurance policy. In Colorado, the rate of uninsured drivers is higher at 16.2%, according to the Insurance Research Council. That’s one in six drivers breezing by you on the road without insurance. If you are involved in an auto […]]]>

Approximately 12.6% of United States drivers are driving their vehicles without the coverage of an auto insurance policy. In Colorado, the rate of uninsured drivers is higher at 16.2%, according to the Insurance Research Council. That’s one in six drivers breezing by you on the road without insurance.

If you are involved in an auto collision with one of those drivers, your first thought may well be that you’ve landed in a worst-possible scenario. But if you have uninsured motorist coverage, it will definitely help.

In Colorado, insurance companies are required to offer uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage to everyone purchasing a policy (UCCS). Purchasing this additional coverage is optional, but if you have it, the policy will pay for damages done by an at-fault driver with low insurance limits or no insurance at all. In the event of a crash, the insurance would cover the policy holder (you), other drivers listed under the policy, and in some circumstances, your passengers.

All too often, we at Leventhal & Puga, P.C., hear from people who have been hit by a driver who has little or no insurance, and as a result, they don’t receive the compensation they need to cover their damages. These people have done nothing wrong and have auto insurance themselves, yet they still end up in a dire situation.

Uninsured motorist coverage alleviates this risk, allowing the policyholder to have control regardless of the at-fault driver’s insurance policy or lack thereof. That’s why we strongly recommend that you purchase as much uninsured/underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) as you can comfortably afford.

Uninsured Motorists and Colorado Law

Driving without auto insurance in Colorado is against the law. When a driver is caught operating a vehicle without insurance, the penalties can include driver’s license points, a fine, license suspension, and community service hours.

Unfortunately, this doesn’t stop some people from taking the chance and driving without coverage.

How Uninsured Motorist Coverage Typically Works

In Colorado, auto insurers must offer an uninsured motorist policy that is equal to the amount that the policyholder’s regular car insurance policy covers. Colorado’s minimum liability limit is $25,000/$50,000, so if you purchase the minimum, you should be offered $25,000/$50,000 in uninsured motorist. But the insurance company must match up to the same amount of liability coverage that is on your regular policy, so if you have a higher policy, you must be offered more coverage. Uninsured motorist covers economic damage like medical bills, as well as some non-economic damages, like pain and suffering (RMIIA).

Let’s look at a typical situation: a driver finds himself with $200,000 in damages after a serious car crash where he was not at fault. The at-fault driver has only $25,000 in liability coverage. The at-fault driver’s policy would cover the first $25,000 but would end there. The original driver could then make a claim with his own insurance company for underinsured motorist coverage. The underinsured motorist coverage would pay the remaining balance in damages, up to the policy’s limit.

Bad Faith Insurance Cases

If you have uninsured motorist, your insurance company is expected to pay the remaining balance (up to your policy limits) of your crash bills not covered by the at-fault driver. If the insurance company does not pay, and has no good reason for delaying or denying your claim, it may be acting in bad faith. This means the insurance company is intentionally being deceptive or dishonest and not honoring the contract it has with you, the policyholder.

In order for a policyholder to demonstrate that his insurance company has acted in bad faith, he must prove that benefits due under the policy were withheld, and that the reason for withholding benefits was unreasonable.

If an insurance company denies your uninsured motorist benefits and does not give an explanation, or misrepresents relevant facts in order to deny the claim, you may have a bad faith case on your hands. You’d be well within your rights to file a lawsuit against your insurance company, and you may be able to recover even more money than the value of your policy, as courts tend to punish these companies with punitive damages to send a message.

If Your Insurer Is Being Unreasonable, Contact a Skilled Personal Injury Attorney

Some of the time, it takes only a simple demand letter to get insurance companies to pay the correct policy amount. When you’re negotiating an insurance claim, the demand letter lays out your arguments for why you should be compensated. It may include a description of injuries, proof of income loss, and an explanation for why the other driver was responsible for the crash.

A skilled lawyer can help you carefully craft all of these arguments so that the insurance company can’t find any loopholes. Sometimes, however, even a well-executed demand letter is not enough to make the insurance company do the right thing.

When an insurer denies a claim after a demand letter, ignores the demand letter entirely, or counter-offers an insultingly low amount, settlement negotiations become much more complicated. This is where it becomes essential to have a Denver car crash attorney on your team. At Leventhal & Puga, P.C., we have handled many tough insurance negotiations successfully across the country, and pursued many claims to a jury trial and verdict, if it was necessary to take care of our clients.

Our trial lawyers push negotiations with the insurance company, and will pursue a bad faith case if necessary. Almost always, insurance companies attempt to take advantage of policyholders who don’t have in-depth knowledge of what and how much should be covered, and withhold money that is rightfully theirs. Hiring an experienced legal team eliminates this tactic.

When you are injured due to the carelessness of another driver, you deserve to have a dedicated team fighting to achieve justice for you. Contact Leventhal & Puga, P.C. at (877) 433-3906 for an initial consultation at no charge. Since day one, we put our clients first.

]]>Why There Is No Such Thing as an “Accident”https://www.leventhal-law.com/blog/no-such-thing-as-an-accident/
Mon, 09 Jul 2018 20:09:14 +0000https://www.leventhal-law.com/blog/?p=64Negligence Is Not an Accident – It’s a Choice “For years our country has accepted unintentional injuries as an unavoidable reality. The truth is, there is no such thing as an accident. Every single one of these deaths was preventable. We know what to do to save lives, but collectively we have failed to prioritize […]]]>

Negligence Is Not an Accident – It’s a Choice

“For years our country has accepted unintentional injuries as an unavoidable reality. The truth is, there is no such thing as an accident. Every single one of these deaths was preventable. We know what to do to save lives, but collectively we have failed to prioritize safety at work, at home, and on the road.” So stated Deborah A. P. Hersman, president and CEO of the National Safety Council (NSC), in a news release lamenting the fact that unintentional injuries are now the third leading cause of death in the United States.

She brings up a very good point, one that Leventhal & Puga, P.C. often makes, both to our clients and our opponents: there are no such things as accidents.

Even the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) doesn’t rely on the term “accidents” to tabulate certain deaths. Unintentional death or injury is a more accurate term, because, except in cases of assault, homicide, or suicide, ALL deaths are unexpected and unintentional. However, calling something an “accident” implies that it happened randomly, by chance, and there’s nothing anyone could have done to prevent it. It’s a way of linguistically shrugging your shoulders and negating responsibility.

An article written by Christopher Peterson, Ph.D., in Psychology Today, points out, “Researchers do not typically use the term accident in their papers…‘Accident’ has a very clear connotation of randomness, and if you can predict accidents, then they are not random. Researchers, instead, opt for more clunky, but less misleading terms, like ‘traumatic mishaps.’”

The trial attorneys at Leventhal & Puga, P.C., prefer terms such as “crash, collision, failure to follow order, failure to uphold the duty of care,” and many others that more accurately describe what has happened to our personal injury clients. There’s usually a chain of errors that ultimately led to our clients’ injuries, and these errors were always foreseeable. For example, what did this medical center think was going to happen when they gave a patient an epidural with a drug that was clearly labeled “Not for epidural use”?

Or, in an ongoing case we are handling for a client, what would happen if a Denver medical center did not sterilize its surgical instruments, which were found to be contaminated with previous patients’ biological material and other residue? As a result, our client (a doctor at the very same medical center) suffered a surgical site infection and nearly died.

In 2015, unintentional injuries claimed at least 146,571 lives in the United States, according to the CDC. The NSC put the number at 161,374 deaths—and 44 million preventable injuries. The toll is too high. Let’s put our foot down and agree: there are no accidents.

There Are No Medical Accidents.

Leventhal & Puga, P.C., has strong opinions on this matter. Time and time again, we see people seriously harmed by hospital-borne infections, preventable falls, bedsores, misdiagnoses, adverse drug reactions, and more. What do these injuries have in common? With proper care, they were preventable. We find that most of these errors occur because the hospital:

Did not have enough staff to cover an emergency situation.

Staff did not adequately communicate with fellow medical staff or patients.

Did not double-check and ensure that orders, procedures, diagnoses, etc. were correct.

In a recent case we were asked to look at, a woman died mysteriously at a “cancer center”—which, it turns out, was unlicensed, unaccredited, and not under the jurisdiction of the state health department. The woman’s daughter and son believe their mother may have received too much radiation at once, or worse, been neglected by staff and choked to death on mucus while restrained to the bed, unable to sit up. The center immediately attempted to cover up the incident.

This type of system-wide failure leads to far too many injuries and deaths in this country’s hospitals and clinics.

There Are No Vehicle Accidents.

Saying something tame like “car accident” can obfuscate what really happened on that dark, city road—like a drunk driver crashing into a family of four, killing them instantly. There is a growing movement to redefine the language we use to describe vehicle crashes. According to a joint statement by Families for Safe Streets and Transportation Alternative in New York:

“Before the labor movement, factory owners would say ‘it was an accident’ when American workers were injured in unsafe conditions. Before the movement to combat drunk driving, intoxicated drivers would say ‘it was an accident’ when they crashed their cars. Planes don’t have accidents. They crash. Cranes don’t have accidents. They collapse. And as a society, we expect answers and solutions. Traffic crashes are fixable problems, caused by dangerous streets and unsafe drivers. They are not accidents. Let’s stop using the word ‘accident’ today.”

We understand the knee-jerk reaction to call something an accident. In our personal lives, we all use that term a great deal. But there’s a time and a place to use that phrase. When a driver is busy texting on her phone, and runs over two children crossing the street, it’s not appropriate or accurate to say what happened was an accident. It was a tragic incident resulting from the poor, negligent choices of the driver.

There Are No Nursing Home Accidents.

Consider an elderly woman who has chronic hip pain and lives in a nursing home. After a few weeks, she develops a new and dangerous issue: pressure or decubitus ulcers, also known as “bedsores.” By the time the staff catches it, her skin is deeply infected and requires emergency surgery. Certainly, what happened to her was unintentional. No one wanted it to happen. But was it an “accident”? No. It was neglect.

There’s a relatively easy way to prevent pressure ulcers—moving the patient regularly, about every two hours. And it’s been an approved method since the 1800s. Now, there are newfangled mattresses that help distribute pressure, and most hospitals have timeframes in place for when they need to move each bed, or wheelchair-bound, patient.

But, according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, more than 2.5 million Americans develop pressure ulcers each year. While bedsores start out small, they can quickly become infected, allowing bacteria to spread from the wound into the bloodstream. The end result? Sepsis, organ failure, and sometimes, death. Emergency amputation is sometimes the only remedy.

There Are No Product Accidents.

When lithium ion batteries in cellphones began catching on fire, it’s not an accident; there was a scientific reason behind it. It is the responsibility of a product’s manufacturer to extensively test devices before putting them on the market.

The same is true for makers of pharmaceutical drugs and medical devices, which have the potential to cause extreme harm if defective. It wasn’t an accident when a French company switched from medical-grade silicon to industrial-grade silicon in its breast implants—it was a cost-cutting measure. Later, the contaminants in those implants were linked to an increased risk of inflammation, cancer, and other toxic exposure.

Unfortunately, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) seem to have their hands full, and lots of defective products end up on store shelves (Have a look at the current CPSC recall list).

There Are No Premises Accidents.

Property owners and businesses have a duty to ensure their premises are reasonably safe for visitors.

In December 2017, a ski lift at a resort outside of Denver ejected a mother and her two daughters into the hard-packed snow 25 feet below. Prior to the fatal tragedy, several guests, including two engineers who lived nearby, had complained to the resort about the unsafe lift. Nothing was done. Leventhal & Puga, P.C. attorney Jim Leventhal called that gross negligence. “They made a conscious decision that their revenue was more important than the safety of families and people getting onto that lift.”

Ignoring problems doesn’t make what happens next “an accident.”

Technology Is No Excuse.

Though the fatal fall from the ski lift was partially blamed on the lift’s recently modified motor, that doesn’t absolve the company from liability for what happened.

Assume a driverless car crashes into a pedestrian. Many legal and ethical issues will arise, but the point remains: it was a human who was ultimately responsible for the error. A human programmed the vehicle, oversaw its creation, and conducted its field testing.

We at Leventhal & Puga, P.C., do not believe in “accidents,” and for a good reason. Everything that has happened to our clients, happened as the result of a choice—either conscious or unconscious. We demand that hospitals, governments, corporations, and individuals take ownership of this and ask themselves a reasonable question: Could somebody get hurt?

If the answer is “Yes,” and the injury could have been prevented, what happened was NOT an accident. At Leventhal & Puga, P.C., our mission is to hold negligent parties responsible for the injuries they cause. For a free case evaluation, please call (877) 433-3906. We handle serious injury cases across the United States.